Just a quick note – Aaron Altherr will make the start in left field tonight for the Phillies. Altherr was called up in June while Tony Gwynn was on bereavement and took one PA, and he was recalled yesterday when Dom Brown went on the paternity list. The German-bron Altherr, nicknamed “The Rhineland Rocket” (by me – I am beating it into the ground, folks), OPSed .930 in June at AA Reading, but is OPSing .688 on the season between two MiLB levels.
Category Archives: Other Stuff
Staying optimistic about the future in center field
In what has been a disappointing 2014 season for the Phillies, one thing has become abundantly clear: the team’s future in the outfield is muddled. Ben Revere, Domonic Brown, and Marlon Byrd have struggled as a unit, and out of those three guys, the only one who has provided much of anything may not be here past July 31.
Brown’s problems are another story for another day, and Byrd’s story may be written over the next few weeks if Ruben Amaro, Jr. finds a taker for the right fielder.
There is one big question here: What is the team’s future in center field? Set aside Brown for a second. Forget about Byrd. Just block the corner outfield out of your mind. Where does this team plan to go in center field?
Continue reading Staying optimistic about the future in center field
Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
AFter wins the last two evenings, Lehigh Valley has lost 7 of their last 10 games, and have gone 12-19 since May 30th. The ‘Pigs are 41-44 and in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League; 10 games behind division leading Syracuse. They are 6 games behind Rochester for a wildcard spot. Lehigh Valley returns home for a quick two game series against Syracuse before leaving on a long 10 game road trip that will take them into the all star break in mid July.
‘Pigs League Leaders, Hitting:Maikel Franco is 7th in AB’s (302); Tyler Henson is 5th in strikeouts (84) and 5th in SB’s (16).
Leaders, Pitching: Barry Enright is 4th in losses (8); leads the league in HR allowed (16); has the 6th worst WHIP (1.54) has the 7th worst ERA (5.20); is tied for 4th in starts (16); Luis Garcia is 3rd in saves (15); Greg SMith is 9th in IP (94.2)
‘Pigs Prospects: Maikel Franco’s struggles continue and he has been out of the lineup over the last two days. Franco had 105 June AB’s and hit .162/.196/.238 with 1HR and 11RBI. Franco’s year has been a roller coaster with April and June being very poor, with a good May sandwiched in the middle. On the year, .209/.267/.318 with 5HR 31RBI. Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
Minor League Organizational Leaders
It aint real pretty…
AB’s: Maikel Franco, 302; Dylan Cozens 301; KC Serna 300; Peter Lavin 294; Carlos Tocci 286; Andrew Pullin 284; Carlos Alonso 276; Cameron Perkins 274; JP Crawford 272; Aaron Altherr 269
Hits: Cameron Perkins 85; Peter Lavin 85; Willians Astudillo 84; KC Serna 83; JP Crawford 78; Andrew Pullin 78; Carlos Alonso 77; Steve Susdorf 72; Leandro Castro 69; Tyler Henson 69
2B; Cameron Perkins 21; Willians Astudillo 19; Peter Lavin 18; KC Serna 18; Art Charles 18; Steve Susdorf 17; JP Crawford 17; Leandro castro 16; Tyler Henson 16; Maikel Franco 16; Aaron Altherr 16
3B: Peter Lavin 5; Carlos Tocci 4; Leandro Castro 3; Cameron Perkins 3; Aaron Altherr 3; KC Serna 3; Art Charles 3; Brian Pointer 3; Dylan Cozens 3
HR: Jim Murphy 10; Peter Lavin 10; Dylan Cozens 9; Samuel Hiciano 7; Art Charles 7; Carlos Alonso 7; Jake Fox 6; Aaron Altherr 6; Brock Stassi Continue reading Minor League Organizational Leaders
Reading Report: 6/23-6/29 (In Haiku Form!)
Listen, things haven’t been so great lately for your Reading Fightins. They have lost 12 games in a row (maybe the only thing that stopped them from racking it up to 13 this week was a rain out), Jesse Biddle was shut down after another disastrous performance, and the offense continues to struggle, save for a few names.
I can only offer a haiku at this point, in hopes to change the team’s luck a bit.
Biddle has been shelved
They’ve lost twelve games in a row
At least Fox can hit
That is all for the week.
Thursday Night Notes
A busy night with the big news being Jesse Biddle being given what Ruben Amaro is calling a “mental break”, with his placement on Reading’s temporary inactive list. Biddle’s recent troubles have been well documented including his 10ER outing just last Tuesday. This break can only help, as Biddle has been unable to pitch through the recent issues.
In Allentown, Sean O’Sullivan was told that he will be the Phillies starter in Game Two of their doubleheader Saturday. The speculation had been Brad Lincoln, however it seems Lincoln may be nursing a minor leg injury. While far from overpowering, O’Sullivan has been slightly better than decent for the ‘Pigs this year, going 3-6 with a 4.31ERA in 15 starts this year for the ‘Pigs. Opponents hit .278 against him and O’Sullivan is carrying a WHIP of 1.36. O’Sullivan will not overwhelm and has just as good a chance as any in Lehigh Valley to do a competent job.
In Allentown, Jason Marquis will be on the hill tomorrow evening with Grady Sizemore likely to get his first start in the Phils organization tomorrow as well.
Jiwan James Released
The Phillies have announced the release of Jiwan James, as another outfielder in the organization will part ways.
The Phillies have now released James, Anthony Hewitt, and Tyson Gillies, all in a very short amount of time.
A 22nd round pick of the Phillies in 2007, James posted a career .265/.317/.364 line with the organization. He certainly was one of the fastest players the organization has seen over the last 10 years, but he never put things together. Our (slightly outdated) profile of Jiwan can be found here.
He battled injuries throughout his career, finally returning making his 2014 Reading debut a few weeks ago. He had 21 at-bats, and hit .333 with a .364 on-base percentage.
That said, there was too much to overcome. With so many outfielders on the roster, there wasn’t really anywhere for James to play, and he will now be moving on.
James had this to say:
The Fightins still have six outfielders on the roster, though listed outfielder Jake Fox has played plenty of first base.
Hot or Not
Quite a week looking back at Jun 19-25 with interesting names showing up on both sides of the ledger…Starting pitching was brutal this week with Jesse Biddle leading the way and prominent names like Guellar and Nola not far behind…Start paying alot of attention to Andrew Pullin, who as a 2B should be rising up the prospect rankings…Good to see Brian Pointer getting on track…Brad Lincoln really seems to be the only choice for the start the Phils need on Saturday. He has been throwing very well as a starter….Larry Greene Jr came off the DL on fire…how long will that last?
Hot Hitters: (Min 12 AB’s): Damek Tomscha (.500, 5R, 3RBI); Brian Pointer (.476); Andrew Pullin (.444, 4RBI); Andreas Blanco (.450); Matt SHortall (.417); Larry Greene (.400, 5R); Emmanuel Marrero (.368); Grenny Cumana (.364); Cord Sandberg (.346, 5R HR, 4RBI, 2SB); Honorable Mention: Henson, Susdorf, Lino, Alonso, Fox, Knapp, J. Hernanderz
Not Hot Hitters: Chris Serritella (.000, 0-13); Luis Encarnacion (.063); Derek Campbell (.100); Rhys Hoskins (.118); Carlos Tocci (.125); Dylan Cozens (.130); Willians Astudillo (.154); Leandro Castro (.167); Art Charles (.167); Maikel Franco (.174) Continue reading Hot or Not
Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
Mediocrity continues for the ‘Pigs who went 3-4 this week, including a 4-3 loss tonight, and now sit at 38-41 and in 5th place of the Northern Division of the International League, 10.5 games behind division leading Syracuse. After completing a short two day (3 game) road trip to Syracuse on Wednesday, Lehigh Valley returns home for 4 games (Rochester, Scranton) over the weekend.
‘Pigs league Leaders, Hitting: Maikel Franco is 3rd in AB’s(288); Tyler Henson is 4th in K’s(78) and 5th in SB’s(16)
Pitching: Barry Enright is 3rd in losses (7);2nd in HR allowed (15); has the 7th worst ERA (5.20); is tied for 2nd in starts(15)and has the 8th worst WHIP (1.50); Luis Garcia is 4th in saves (12); Sean O’Sullivan is 4th in IP (87.2) Continue reading Lehigh Valley Weekly Report
Phils Sign Grady Sizemore
The Phillies, looking for anything to help their OF depth, are taking a shot that 31 year old Grady Sizemore is their man. Sizemore spent the majority of his career with the Cleveland Indians, having several excellent seasons during which he put up 20-30 Homers with 30+ stolen bases. That said, Sizemore hasn’t hit above .248 since 2008, and has spent the last two seasons struggling through a myriad of injuries before a fairly miserable 2014 with Boston. His line with the Red Sox prior to his release was .216/.288/.325 in 185 AB’s with 2HR 15RBI and 5SB.
Sizemore is a three time all star and two time gold glove winner. He will report to AAA Lehigh Valley on Thursday. My guess is Tony Gwynn’s time with the Phillies is limited…
Phuture Phillies 